Here's a good exercise anyone can do if they have a few art postcards. Piero Della Francesco used a wonderfully harmonious color palette and you'll understand it better when you try to match the colors.

There were plenty of color wash pages in my old sketchbook. These are'color beginnings' as J.M.W.Turner called them - a big atmospheric wash of colors.

Why not paint a Paris skyline on top with a little help from Google images?

After mixing up (but not well-mixed) a biggish puddle of cobalt blue + French Ultramarine blue + Burnt Sienna + Burn Umber, I begin drawing the Arc de Triomphe with a brush loaded with unmixed 'organic color'.

Extending the puddle of 'mingled' paint down and across, always keeping it wet and working fast I add the Eiffel Tower...

Ever onward, tilting the paper a bit to help the wet paint/colors run and mingle across the page.

.. LOVE LOVE LOVE these little tutorials ... one day I'm going to take up water color ... just so I can play around ... I have no ability, but it looks like so much fun. Thank You for the "peep in" ... Karen in CT

Thank you for sharing these insights into your world of watercolors! I agree...you make it seem SO easy and that anyone should be able to do this. I have watercolors, etc. at home but feel a bit intimidated...

I'm a watercolorist too. It's so much fun to drop the color into a puddle of water and watch them do their thing. For anyone who hasn't tried it, give it a try you will be amazed at what will happen to the colors as they blend. It's like magic.

WOW, these are really gorgeous, Carol. I think my favourite might be a work in progress instead of the finished version. The Tuscan blob buildings with the color swatches around them are just stunning.

Wish you were here, to help me do my blobbing !! what a mess mine are !!It's either too much water so it looks like muddy rainbow coloured cauliflowers, or not enough & the colours are too vibrant !! How do I get the hint of a strong colour ?Maybe I was in too much of a rush, trying to do it too hasty.I'll try again.Barbara L your blob admirer.

How to Blobyes it's a sloooooow process Barbara and a meditative one.'Like watching paint dry' as they say.1st put down a blob of waterUse just TWO colorsa warm color like Bt Sienna+ a cool color like Ultramarine BluePut your warm color down 1stand then the cool on topTilt your paper so the paint moves around.Use gravity to move the paint on the paper.Practice practiceyou can change the colorsDo you have David Dewey's book? It's very good for color exercisesBe patient with yourself and BRAVO! for trying it outYou'll get it. I promise :)cheers Carolg